Teaching Hard History Slavery in the Constitution
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Nov 4, 2025 Constitutional historian Paul Finkelman, the president of Gratz College and a prolific author on law and slavery, unpacks the troubling ways the U.S. Constitution enabled slavery. He explores the paradox of founding ideals versus the realities of slaveholding, revealing how compromises like the Three-Fifths Clause shaped early American politics. Finkelman also discusses the influence of black soldiers in the Revolution on emancipation efforts and highlights how federal power often reinforced pro-slavery authority.
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Founding Contradiction: Liberty And Slavery
- The Declaration's equality language coexisted with widespread slaveholding among its authors.
- Paul Finkelman highlights this contradiction as central to the nation's founding tension.
Black Soldiers In Revolutionary Battles
- Black soldiers fought alongside white soldiers at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill during the Revolution.
- Paul Finkelman notes many served as freedmen or as slaves who became soldiers, showing early tensions about armed Black men.
Northern Legal Steps Toward Abolition
- Northern states began dismantling slavery through gradual abolition after the Revolution.
- Finkelman emphasizes Pennsylvania and Massachusetts as early legal steps toward ending slavery in some states.
